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| Barbara Gittings |
PHILADELPHIA, PA -- A dedication ceremony for Barbara Gittings Way was held Monday in the heart of Philadelphia's gayborhood, October 1st at the intersection of Locust and 13th Streets.
Known as the Mother of the LGBT Civil Rights Movement, Barbara Gittings (July 31, 1932 – February 18, 2007) resided in Philadelphia. She was instrumental in the early fight for lesbian rights, founding the New York City chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis, which was started in San Francisco in 1956 by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon.
DOB was the first lesbian rights organization and an alternative to the bars, which were then subject to police harassment and raids. Sodomy was illegal in all 50 states until Illinois became the first to repeal its law in 1962. Ms. Gittings established the New York City chapter of DOB in 1958 and was its first president. She served as editor of DOB's The Ladder , the first lesbian publication with national distribution, from 1963 to 1966.
Later with along with Dr. Frank Kameny, Gittings was among a handful of people who participated in the first public gay rights demonstrations. She picketed the White House, the Civil Service Commission, and the Pentagon. On July 4, 1965, she took part in the gay rights demonstration at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
Kameny remembered after her death in 2007, that she was "one of the few activists who has been around longer than I."
He had founded the Washington, D.C. chapter of the Mattachine Society in 1961.
Gittings served on the founding boards of directors of many organizations, including the National Gay [and Lesbian] Task Force (1973) and the Gay Rights National Lobby (1976), a precursor to the Human Rights Campaign Fund, now known as the Human Rights Campaign. She also spearheaded the successful initiative to have the American Library Association include gay and lesbian books in the nation’s card catalogues and libraries. Together Kameny and Gittings challenged the American Psychiatric Association, resulting in homosexuality being removed from the list of mental illnesses.
Frank Kameny Way, which honours Dr. Kamney's achievements and contributions as a pioneer in the LGBTQ Equality Rights movement, is located on 17th street between R and P streets in the historic LGBTQ neighborhood of DuPont Circle in Washington D. C.
Known as the Mother of the LGBT Civil Rights Movement, Barbara Gittings (July 31, 1932 – February 18, 2007) resided in Philadelphia. She was instrumental in the early fight for lesbian rights, founding the New York City chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis, which was started in San Francisco in 1956 by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon.
DOB was the first lesbian rights organization and an alternative to the bars, which were then subject to police harassment and raids. Sodomy was illegal in all 50 states until Illinois became the first to repeal its law in 1962. Ms. Gittings established the New York City chapter of DOB in 1958 and was its first president. She served as editor of DOB's The Ladder , the first lesbian publication with national distribution, from 1963 to 1966.
Later with along with Dr. Frank Kameny, Gittings was among a handful of people who participated in the first public gay rights demonstrations. She picketed the White House, the Civil Service Commission, and the Pentagon. On July 4, 1965, she took part in the gay rights demonstration at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
Kameny remembered after her death in 2007, that she was "one of the few activists who has been around longer than I."
Gittings served on the founding boards of directors of many organizations, including the National Gay [and Lesbian] Task Force (1973) and the Gay Rights National Lobby (1976), a precursor to the Human Rights Campaign Fund, now known as the Human Rights Campaign. She also spearheaded the successful initiative to have the American Library Association include gay and lesbian books in the nation’s card catalogues and libraries. Together Kameny and Gittings challenged the American Psychiatric Association, resulting in homosexuality being removed from the list of mental illnesses.
Frank Kameny Way, which honours Dr. Kamney's achievements and contributions as a pioneer in the LGBTQ Equality Rights movement, is located on 17th street between R and P streets in the historic LGBTQ neighborhood of DuPont Circle in Washington D. C.
ACLU To Fight For Transgender Oklahoma City Woman Denied Name Change
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| Angela Renee Ingram |
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma (ACLU) announced last week that the organisation will represent a transgender individual who was denied a name change in an appellate case to be decided by the Oklahoma Supreme Court or sent to Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals for a decision.
In two separate cases, Oklahoma County District Court Judge Bill Graves has denied the name change request, citing science, DNA, and God’s own desire “for them to stay male,” reported The Oklahoman.
In the most recent case on August 30, Graves denied a request by James Dean Ingram, 29, to change her name to Angela Renee Ingram, and reportedly told Ingram that “you can’t change what God gave you.”
Brady Henderson, legal director with the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma said that Ms. Ingram was devastated adding; "She reported even feeling like she wanted to take her own life because of the way she was treated."
According to Henderson, requests for a name change in cases like this are usually approved, except when it comes to this one judge.
"What we do see here is evidence of an imposition of a personal idea of what gender is supposed to be," said Henderson. "The fact is we have a choice over what our names are and what the names of our children are and in this case we feel that Angela was denied that choice unfairly," said Henderson.
Graves said he stands by his position. “If you’re born male, you stay male, according to the study I’ve done on DNA. If you’re born female, you stay female.”
Last year, Graves told 62-year-old Steven Charles Harvey — who was seeking to legally change to Christie Ann Harvey — that a person cannot really change his or her sex because the person’s DNA stays the same, and because “God created man in his own image.”
It is likely that the appeal may take several months to be decided.
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1 comments:
Judge Graves has studied DNA? What is he doing as a judge if he's a scientist? Methinks he's perused a FRC blurb at best. Sadly, lack of intelligence seems to be no barrier to becoming a judge, at least in Oklahoma.
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